“Thanks
to advances in technology, anyone with a 3-D printer can simply print a
fully-functioning firearm that can be snuck through a metal detector
without being noticed,” Nelson said. “These guns pose a real threat to
our safety and we need to be doing everything we can to keep them off
the streets and out of the hands of those who wish to do harm.”

I
would like to see Senator Nelson back up his claim with a
demonstration. Even the plastic replica found at the Reno airport, was
detected because of the metal in the *ammunition*. Even Defense
Distributed used a metal firing pin in the design of its "Liberator"
pistol. Senator Nelson cited the non-firing replica from Reno in his announcement.

Both lawmakers cite an August incident where TSA Agents at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport found and confiscated a plastic gun from a passenger’s carry-on bag during screening. The gun, assembled using a 3-D printer, was found loaded with five live .22 caliber bullets.

The plastic copy was known to be a non-firing replica by August 9th. From kolotv.com:

One
of 68 firearms discovered in carry-on bags nationally the week ending
August 4, 2016, the TSA says it was a realistic replica, loaded with
live ammunition.

The TSA says the passenger was offered the
option of checking the item in carry-on baggage, but chose to leave it
behind. The passenger was not arrested or cited, and continued to his
flight with no impact to airport operations.

Nelson and Schumer's statement was made in March of 2017.

Currently, the first part of the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 is this:

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, import, sell,
ship, deliver, possess, transfer, or receive any firearm— (A) that,
after removal of grips, stocks, and magazines, is not as detectable as
the Security Exemplar, by walk-through metal detectors calibrated and
operated to detect the Security Exemplar;

The Nelson bill would change that paragraph to this, bold added for emphasis:

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, import, sell,
ship, deliver, possess, transfer, or receive any firearm— (A) that,
after removal of all parts other than a major component, is not as detectable as
the Security Exemplar, by walk-through metal detectors calibrated and
operated to detect the Security Exemplar;

If you remove *all parts* other than a
major component, only a major component is left to detect. Words mean
things in the law, and the phrase in bold is not equivalent to "all
parts other than all major components", even though the difference is
only two letters.

Such a requirement would outlaw
all composite frames on the market today. Glock frames and most Glock
type frames would be outlawed. Virtually all composite AR type lower
receivers would be outlawed. The law could either be a sneak attack or
simply a result of ignorance on the part of Senator Nelson and the other
famously anti-Second Amendment co-sponsors.

It will be interesting to see if Senator Nelson uses images of the non-firing replica from Reno to bolster his bill.

It seems unlikely that Nelson's bill will find much support in a Trump administration with a Republican Congress.

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Background

“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” -- Thomas Jefferson

Syndicated columnist Charley Reese (1937-2013): "Gun control by definition affects only honest people. When a politician tells you he wants to forbid you from owning a firearm or force you to get a license, he is telling you he doesn’t trust you. That’s an insult. ... Gun control is not about guns or crime. It is about an elite that fears and despises the common people."

The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles -- Jeff Cooper (1920-2006)

Note for non-American readers: Crime reports from America which describe an offender just as a "teen" or "teenager" almost invariably mean a BLACK teenager.

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics.

Two lines below of a famous hymn that would be incomprehensible to Leftists today ("honor"? "right"? "freedom?" Freedom to agree with them is the only freedom they believe in)

First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean

It is of course the hymn of the USMC -- still today the relentless warriors that they always were.

The intellectual Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) said: "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."

How much do you know about Trayvon Martin? Did you recognize him in the picture above? If not you may need to know more about him. It's all here (Backups here and here)

“An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” -- Robert A. Heinlein

After all the serious stuff here, maybe we need a funny picture of a cantankerous cat